Parachute



L' P. FRIEDER PARACHUTE Filed Det. 25, 1941 Oct. 29, 1946.

2 Sheets-Sheet l HVVBVTOR ot.29,"1945. f ,P FR,VEDER 2,410,207-

PARACHUTE Filed Oct. 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l'nection `with magnesiumPatented Oct. 29,v 1946 UNITED STATES f PATENT I lOFFICE:

` Leonardi. Frieder, New 4York, N. Y. Application October 25,1941,'Serial No. 416,479

4Clams. (Cl.` 244-142) .Thisinvention relates generallyto parachutes n ufor retarding the v.speed of 'falling :bodies and has particularreference to parachutes for use in conkilares :and signals of variouskinds.

One object of theinvention is to vprovidea low cost parachute "for the'purposes indicated, this being of particular importance because of thefact that the parachutes are 'usually not recovered after being-used.

Paper parachutes have beenused in connection with magnesium ares andsignals .but they have heretofore had many disadvantages, one being vthe relatively` lhigh `cost f and another .beingfthat they were notuniformly reliable. Owing kto the structure the sail or canopy was oftendamaged to .an extent WhereV itwould'not properly support' theloadandthe percentagesk in which `the parachute failed to Yopen 'were'entirely too high. This latter defect wasa serious'one, par- `tion ofthe reinforced canopy and the attached shroud lines.

".Fig. 2 is atop plan iview of the `reinforced f Canopy.

p Fig. 3 is a partial top plan view of amodifcati'on ofthe canopy andits reinforcement.

Fig. 4 is a side View of the canopy o`f Fig.- 3 and shows the method ofattaching rthe shroud lines..

Fig. 5 shows a modification in which tapes are used to lserve asshroudlines or lanyards, 'and Fig. 6 shows a further modification inwhich the :edge of the canopy or sail is reinforced :by a cord which ishemmed in around the edge Aoi lthe canopy.

Referring tol Figs. l `and 2, the canopy or 'sail 'I0 is in the form ofa circular disk or sheet of paper. The paper employed is preferably onein which there is little vor no grain; that is, a'paper ticularly wherethe'parachute was used over a rterrain in which'fires might be started-by dropping lighted magnesium flares which werenot retarded yby theparachute. f These defects" were 'in' large part due 'to .the fact thatthe rp'aper parachutes heretofore usedwere constructed by sewingtogether triangularfgores of papenthereby producing a plurality ofkseams 'which made it difcult to'pack a parachute'in the container,

`which has substantially equal strength lin all directions. However,'for most purposes this grainless paper is not required .as rtheconstruction .is such that paper-which is considerably l'weaker acrossthe grain than'with the grain `may beemployed. This is an advantage inview v oftheffact that paper of thelatter 'kind is less .from which itwas to be discharged after reaching the desired elevation. This'defector source -of trouble has been overcome bythe present in- `vention.

It contemplates .the use of a single sheet of paper and reinforcing thatsheet in jsuch a way that it is strengthened at stress points withoutinterfering with 'the proper functioning of the parachute. The parachuteof "this invention will. easily fold or collapse into the containerIandth'ere are no seams Which will'interfere with 'the proper opening ofthe 'canopy when the-'parachute is discharged from the container.

While the parachute of the'prese'n't invention isintended primarilyforuse in connection iwith "flares and signals, "it is'not limited tolsuch'use as it can'be used in various sizesfor poses.

.With the foregoing vand other and incidental objects in View theinvention consists in a novel construction and varrangement of componentparts, embodiments ofwhich are shown in the drawings accompanying andforming a part of vthis application, with the novel features beingpointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view illustrating the construc- "main-.reinforcingthread and owing to the manrner in which it is held by the'ioops 'of theneedle expensive than the grainless paper.

. v The r disks or sheets .of paper yfor the canopy I0 maybe cut by dies--and are, in the form shown in Figs. 1 andr 2, perforated near themargin `as {.shownat II. vThese perforations are preferably madeY'before the 'reinforcinghas 'been applied.

This reinforcing includes applying to the paper threads IZeXtending`radially'from the center o'f the'sail. These threads may be treatedwith ad- :hesiveland then 4a.pplied,.bu`t it is preferred to suse'a'longysewing `machine stitch in which the needle thread has a reduced tensionwhichwill result in :the shuttle thread being substantially straight.The straight'shuttle thread will be the thread it Will'havesubstantially notendency to cut .the paper when thesa'il is supportingva load. rItis'preferred to havethe shuttle thread on `the outer orupper `side of thesail. As Vva'nrattercf manufacturing convenience the`sail, when itis cut, canbespotted yat the center 'as indicated-at I3and the sewing then done in straight lines from edge-to-edge through thecenter in applyingr the reinforcing threads.

The sail is further reinforced by a similar application of reinforcingthread I4 held by stitching around the sail close to its margin. Therein;- forcng threads are all of small cross-section and owing to thisand the way in which they are applied, there is little added to the bulkor weight of the sail and nothing which will interfere with properfolding and packing of the sail in the container or its subsequentopening when ejected from the container to support flares or signals.

The shroud lines I5 are secured at their upper ends to the canopy orsail at the points where the radial threadsintersect the circumferentialthreads.r I4; V In tying each shroud lineit' is passed through one ofthe perforations II and then the adjacentedge of the canopy pulled outand a knot tied in the line which includes within the knot theintersecting threads I2 and I4 and a part of the paper of the sail. Thismethod of tying gives a direct connection between the radial reinforcingthreads I2 as well as the circumferential threads I4. When the parachuteopens with the load attached the canopy I!) will assume substantiallythe shape indicated in Fig. 1.

`-It has been observed in repeated tests that when the canopy opens toassume its load any `shock taken by the canopy is localized in -a zoneextending around the canopy parallel to the edge of the canopy and at adistance from the edge of about one-third of the total radius of thecanopy. This localization of shock stress was particularly noticeablewith the prior art gored parachute and in the present invention areinforcing thread I6 through the Zone is applied in the same manner asthe threads I2 and I4, thereby reinforcing the paper around the zoneindicated. Thisis a particularly valuable feature where paper is usedhaving a substantial grain; that is, where the paper is much weakeracross the grain than lengthwise of the grain.

The construction illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 is the same as the onepreviously described, except that the sail or canopy is reinforced byadditional threads il and I8 applied in the same way as the otherreinforcing threads and extending in concentric circles parallel to theedge of the sail.v Where these additional threads are employed theshroud lines may be passed through double perforations I9 and 20 ateither side ofir vthe radial thread 7I2 and then the threads I2, I1

and I8, and some of the paper of the sail may be drawn out and includedin the knot by which the upper end of the shroud line is secured to `thesail. This is illustrated vin Fig. 4.

The construction shown in Fig. 5 is the same as that shown in Figs. land2, except that narrow flexible tapes 2| are used for shroud lines. Thesetapes have some advantages including the fact that they can be extendedacross the rein-l forcement threads I4 andi@ and secured in place as anincident tov stitching the radial threads I2 in place.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 6 is for use with large canopiessupporting heavy loads. The

paper of the sail ID may be folded inward and stitched to form a hemenclosing a cord 22; or a separate piece of paper in theform of a tapeor band may be folded to enclose the cord 22 and then stitched along theline 23 to attach the tape and vits enclosed cord 22 `to the margin ofthe sail I0. In this construction the shroud lines are attached as abovedescribed in connection with gable: to treat the'paper inany of thelwell known ways to make it water-proof or at least partiallynon-absorbent where the parachute must be packed and stored in a humidatmosphere.

Parachutes constructed according to the invention ower almost instantlywhen discharged or released and support reliably loads which are heavierin proportion to the supporting area of the sail than was practical withprior devices of the kind. The construction is simple and involves noserious manufacturing diiculties and as a result the entire structurecan be produced with a minimum outlay for material, labor and equipment.

While the invention has been explained' in considerable detail withreference to the drawings, it is not the intention to be limited byanything hereinabove contained, except tothe extent indicated by theclaims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. A parachute having in combination a canopy or sail consisting of asubstantially circular onepiece sheet of paper, reinforcing threadsstitched to and extending radially of said sheet, a reinforcing threadstitched to and extending circumferentially of the sheet near the marginof the sheet, land shroud lines secured at their upper ends to thecanopy at the points where the radial and the circumferential threadsintersect.

2. A `parachute comprising a canopy or sail consisting of asubstantially circular one-piece sheet of paper, and reinforcingstitched seams extending radially and in concentric circles around thecenter of the sail, each of said seams consisting of a substantiallystraight shuttle thread held-in place by relatively loose loops in theneedle thread extending through the paper and around the shuttle thread.

3. A parachute comprising a canopy or sail consisting of la.substantially circular one-piece sheet of paperand reinforcing stitchedseams extending radially' of the sail, each of the said seams consistingof a substantially straight shuttle thread held in place by relativelyloose loops in-a needle thread extending through the paper and aroundthe shuttle thread.

4. Ina parachute, a one-piece circular paper canopy, reinforcing threadsheld by thread loops through the paper along a plurality of equidistantradial lines, a reinforcing thread held by thread loops through thepaper on a circular line having the center of the canopy as the centerof the circle, said circle having a diameter of `approximatelytwo-thirds of the diameter ofthe

